Upland–San Bernardino Line

This article is about the historical interurban railway. For the modern commuter rail, see San Bernardino Line.

Upland–San Bernardino
A San Bernardino Line interurban train, 1916
Overview
Owner	Southern Pacific Railroad
Locale	Southern California
Termini	Pacific Electric Building San Bernardino, California minor terminals at Baldwin Park, Covina, and San Dimas
Service
Type	Interurban
System	Pacific Electric
Operator(s)	Pacific Electric
History
Opened	July 11, 1914 (full line)
Closed	March 28, 1947 (past Baldwin Park) October 15, 1950 (final)
Technical
Line length	57.78 mi (92.99 km)
Number of tracks	1–4
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	Overhead line, 1,200 V DC Overhead line, 600 V DC
Route map Redlands San Bernardino Union Pacific & Santa Fe Colton Bench Lytle Creek Santa Fe Pepper Acacia Riverside–Rialto Rialto Cactus Avenue Linden Avenue Locust Alder Fontana Muscat Sansevain Los Minos Etiwanda Milligan (Grapeland) Los Uvas East Alta Loma Alta Loma Carnelian Carillo Upland Upland–Ontario Euclid Avenue Mountain Avenue West Upland Santa Fe Claremont Santa Fe Baldy View North Pomona Pomona Pomona Junction L.A. County Fairgrounds Fulton Road Lordsburg cutoff Pomona La Verne (Lordsburg) San Dimas (SP) San Dimas Lone Hill (San Dimas Junction) Southern Pacific Charter Oak Ruddock Masonic Home Hayler Barranca Street Covina terminus after 1941 Hollenbeck Avenue Azusa Avenue Lark Ellen Vincent Irwindale Orange Avenue Meadowview Vineland Southern Pacific rush-hour service Baldwin Park terminus after 1947 La Rica Vista Del Valle Gravel Pit San Gabriel River San Gabriel River Maxson Cogswell Hayes Southern Pacific El Monte Rio Hondo Niobe Eaton Wash SR 19 Rosemead San Gabriel Wash Garvey (Amarillo) South San Gabriel Alhambra Wash Wilmar Alhambra Avenue (Gaston) Garfield Avenue (Ramona Park) Ynez Street Ramona Convent Campbell Avenue Granada Park Floral Park City Terrace (La Borde)  B   E  Wallace Park 1200 V 600 V multiple lines Valley Junction State Street South Pasadena Echandia Brooklyn Avenue Union Pacific Los Angeles River Santa Fe  P  Southern Division 6th/Main Terminal  F

The Upland–San Bernardino Line was an interurban line operated by the Pacific Electric Railway between Downtown Los Angeles and San Bernardino, California. This line also had shorter service that terminated before the end of the line at Baldwin Park, Covina, and San Dimas. Though service along this line in its entirety was discontinued in November 1941, it stands as the fourth-longest rapid transit line in American history, after the Sacramento Northern Railway's Chico and Colusa services, and the Pacific Electric's own Riverside–Rialto Line.

History

Pacific Electric trains reached Covina in 1907 and San Dimas on October 26, 1910 as the San Dimas Line. The route between Pomona and Upland was constructed by the Ontario and San Antonio Heights Railroad Company, which was acquired by Pacific Electric in 1912. Trains began running from the Pacific Electric Building to Pomona starting on August 31, 1912 as the Pomona Line. Finally on July 11, 1914 service to San Bernardino was commenced, providing interchanges with the San Bernardino Valley Traction Company. Pacific Electric spent $1,424,000 ($43.3 million in 2023 adjusted for inflation) to bring service to San Bernardino. A cutoff bypassing Pomona was completed on November 4, 1914. A branch line to Azusa was built in 1917, though the commencement of San Bernardino trains relegated other endpoints to secondary status along the line. The San Dimas Line was relegated almost entirely to shuttle service between Lone Hill after July 11, 1914, though some through-service to Los Angeles remained until 1916. Passenger trips to San Dimas was discontinued by July 3, 1924, though tracks were retained for farm freight.

In November 1920, two named trains were introduced on the line: the Citrus Belt Limited which traveled east in the afternoon and the Angel City Limited which made the reverse journey in the afternoon. Two more limited named trains were added in 1930: the Orange Empire Limited and Metropolitan Limited. (Pacific Electric only ran six named trains over its history, with five of them being on the San Bernardino Line.) All named trains were discontinued in 1931 along with other cuts made in response to decreased patronage due to the Great Depression.

Through service to Redlands was discontinued in 1936, while Pomona and San Bernardino trains began operating independently the following year (they had predominantly operated connected and split at Lordsburg this time). Most passenger service was truncated to Baldwin Park on November 1, 1941. Rush hour trains continued to serve Covina, and were even rerouted onto new tracks east of Baldwin Park obtained from the Southern Pacific in 1946. In 1947 all passenger trips were cut back to Baldwin Park. Unscheduled troop trains ran in World War II, though these trips were not open to civilians. On October 15, 1950, the Baldwin Park Line service was abandoned. Even after closure, the line remained popular with railfanning groups — the last passenger excursion under electric power on the line ran on August 25, 1951.

After passenger service

The former right of way was converted to a rail trail for part of its length.

Pacific Electric Trail
Metrolink ROW Rialto Fontana Miller Park Seville Park & Amphitheater San Bernardino County US 66 Foothill Blvd. Fontana Rancho Cucamonga I-15 Etiwanda Victoria Park Ln. Elena Park Central Park Deer Creek Channel Amethyst Ave. Trailhead Cucamonga Creek Trail Route 66 Trailhead US 66 Foothill Blvd. Rancho Cucamonga Upland SR 83 Euclid Ave. San Antonio Creek Pacific Electric to Los Angeles

The Huntington Drive tracks were abandoned after September 15, 1951. Freight trains were converted to diesel operations a few months later in October. It took several weeks to convert the trolley-activated DC crossing signals to low voltage track circuit operation suitable for non-electrified trains.

The western portion of the right-of-way was partially integrated into the San Bernardino Freeway. Metrolink San Bernardino Line trains utilize the same section in the freeway's median strip; this locomotive-hauled commuter rail service began in 1992. Between the cities of Claremont and Rialto, the line was converted to a rail trail: the Pacific Electric Trail.

Route

Originating from the 6th and Main Street station in Downtown Los Angeles, the San Bernardino Line exited to the east via an elevated structure over downtown streets to reach San Pedro Street at grade. The dual-tracks, running in the pavement of the city streets, proceeded north on San Pedro Street, east on Aliso Street (past its connection to Union Station) to cross the Los Angeles River and Mission Road on the Aliso Street Viaduct.

Directly east of Mission Road the tracks entered a private right of way which ran easterly and then northerly under the Brooklyn Avenue (Macy Street) Bridge. Paralleling Ramona Boulevard (since obliterated by construction of the Interstate 10 Freeway), the line continued northerly, past the Macy Carhouse, to Enchandia Junction, where the South Pasadena Line branched north. From the junction, the tracks headed easterly, still paralleling Ramona Boulevard on the right, through the State Street Yard to Valley Junction, where the Pasadena Short Line and Monrovia–Glendora Lines also branched to the north. From Valley Junction (Soto Street and Interstate 10 Freeway), the dual tracks on private way continued east along Ramona Boulevard, through City Terrace, Monterey Park, Alhambra, San Gabriel, and Rosemead to Baldwin Avenue in El Monte.

From that point, the line proceeded east on private way to cross the Rio Hondo on a single track steel girder bridge. The line then returned to dual tracks and continued east, still on private way paralleling Ramona Boulevard, crossing Valley Boulevard and Peck Road to reach the east city limits of El Monte at the San Gabriel River. Again, the line reduced to single track to cross the river on a long wood-pile bridge before returning to dual tracks on the east bank.

From the San Gabriel River, the line continued east, on private way paralleling Ramona Boulevard, to Badillo Street in Baldwin Park. Continuing, the double tracks ran along Badillo Street as far as Grand Avenue in Covina.

At Grand Avenue, the line became single track and ran on private way along the north side of Badillo Street as far as Banna Avenue in Covina. Here, the line turned in a northeasterly direction and ran on private way (intermittently paved by Ruddock Street, Badillo Street and Stratford Lane as of 1981). At Stratford Lane and Lone Hill Avenue (San Dimas Junction) the main line turned and proceeded east toward Pomona while a branch line continued on private way northeasterly into San Dimas on a single track. The main line continued on private way east from Lone Hill passing streets such as Cataract Avenue and Walnut Avenue and, turning gently southeast by Puddingstone Channel, proceeded parallel to Orange Street as far as E Street in Pomona. At E Street, a Pomona local branch line branched south and continued on private way. This diversion from the nearly continuous straight track to the east and west was the result of ranchers and farmers in Alta Vista donating right of way and funding to build the track further north.

The San Bernardino Line continued east, on single track on private way, paralleling the Santa Fe Railway north of Arrow Highway, and passing Towne Avenue and Indian Hill Boulevard in Claremont. Then turning northeasterly the line proceeded to Benson Avenue in Upland where it turned east again to run between Arrow Highway and 9th street. At 13th Avenue, a northeasterly course took the line to Alta Lorna, along private way, as far as Grande street and Archibald Avenue. Proceeding east from Alta Lorna in open country north of Base-line Road, the line passed Etiwanda Avenue and then turned southeasterly at East Etiwanda Creek into Fontana. It turned east again at Citrus Avenue in Fontana and proceeded north of Arrow Route Boulevard, paralleling it through Rialto toward San Bernardino. The line entered San Bernardino in the pavement of Rialto Avenue and proceeded east to a point between "E" and "F" Streets. Here, the San Bernardino Line turned north to follow a private way to its terminus at the joint Pacific Electric and Southern Pacific station on 3rd Street.

List of major stations

The former Rialto Depot, 2008

Etiwanda Depot was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 21, 2011

Lordsburg station (later La Verne), 1922

Pacific Electric Building elevated concourse

Station	Mile	Major connections	Service began	Service ended	City
San Bernardino	57.78	Arrowhead, Colton, Redlands, San Bernardino–Riverside Southern Pacific	1914	1940	San Bernardino
Rialto	53.18	Riverside–Rialto	1914	1940	Rialto
Fontana	49.44		1914	1940
Etiwanda	43.98	Riverside–Rialto	1914	1940	Etiwanda
Upland	35.95	Riverside–Rialto	1914	1940	Upland
Upland–Euclid Ave.		Riverside–Rialto, Upland–Ontario, Upland–San Antonio Heights	1914	1940
Claremont	32.59	Pomona–Claremont, Riverside–Rialto, Upland–Ontario Santa Fe Railroad	1914	1940	Claremont
North Pomona	30.06		1912	1940
La Verne	29.03		1912	1940
San Dimas (SP)	26.58	Pomona, Riverside–Rialto Southern Pacific	1910	1940	San Dimas
Covina	22.03	Pomona, Riverside–Rialto	1907	1947	Covina
Baldwin Park	17.84		1907
El Monte	13.36	Pomona, Riverside–Rialto	1907	1950	El Monte
Wilmar	9.77		1907
Garfield Avenue	8.41		1907
Covina Junction	3.37	Alhambra–San Gabriel, Monrovia–Glendora, Mount Lowe, Pasadena Short Line, Pasadena via Oak Knoll, Pomona, Riverside–Rialto, Sierra Madre	1902	1951	Los Angeles
Echandia Junction		Alhambra–San Gabriel, Annandale, Monrovia–Glendora, Mount Lowe, Pasadena Short Line, Pasadena via Oak Knoll, Pomona, Riverside–Rialto, Sierra Madre, South Pasadena Local	1895	1951
Pacific Electric Building	0.0	Alhambra–San Gabriel, Annandale, Balboa, Fullerton, Hawthorne–El Segundo, La Habra–Yorba Linda, Long Beach, Monrovia–Glendora, Mount Lowe, Pasadena Short Line, Pasadena via Oak Knoll, Pomona, Riverside–Rialto, San Pedro via Dominguez, San Pedro via Gardena, Santa Ana, Santa Monica Air Line, Sierra Madre, Soldiers' Home, South Pasadena Local, Whittier Los Angeles Railway B, H, J, R, 7, and 8	1905	1961

Infrastructure

The line operated a unique railway electrification system among Pacific Electric routes: overhead line was primarily electrified with a 1,200-volt direct current system developed by General Electric. Within town and city limits, the line shared tracks with local streetcars and utilized more traditional 600 volt power. Electrical substations providing high voltage power were located at Campbell Avenue, Baldwin Park, Baldy View, Etiwanda, and San Bernardino.

Rolling stock

By 1916 the line was utilizing 1200 class rolling stock, with the 25 cars constructed by the Pressed Steel Car Company. The class number referred to the high voltage at which cars could operate, though these cars also ran unmodified on the lower voltages in denser areas.

References

 This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under the public domain as a work of the State of California. (license statement/permission). Text taken from 1981 Inventory of Pacific Electric Routes​, Los Angeles - District 7 - Public Transportation Branch, California Department of Transportation. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Bibliography

• Crump, Spencer (1977). Ride the big red cars: How trolleys helped build southern California. Trans-Anglo Books. ISBN 0-87046-047-1. OCLC 3414090.
• Hilton, George W.; Due, John Fitzgerald (1960). The Electric Interurban Railways in America. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-4014-2. OCLC 237973.
• Veysey, Laurence R. (June 1958). A History Of The Rail Passenger Service Operated By The Pacific Electric Railway Company Since 1911 And By Its Successors Since 1953 (PDF). LACMTA (Report). Los Angeles, California: Interurbans. ASIN B0007F8D84. OCLC 6565577.